THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 


THE  COLLECTION  OF 
NORTH  CAROLINIANA 


C378 

UK3 


UNIVERSITY  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


00036721217 


This  book  must  not 
be  taken  from  the 
Library  building. 


Digitized  by  tine  Internet  Arciiive 

in  2010  witii  funding  from 

University  of  Nortii  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hil 


I 


http://www.archive.org/details/christianityonlyOOpalm 


CHRISTIANITY,  THE  ONLY  RELIGION  FOR  MAN. 

A  DISCOURSE 


DELITERED  BEFORE  THE 


GRADUATING  CLASS 


UNIVERSITY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA, 

JUNE    4,    1855. 


BY  B.  M.  PALMER,  D.  D., 

COLUMBIA,   S.   C. 


RALEIGH : 

PRINTED    AT   THE  OFFICE   OF  TEIE   "  CAROLINA  CULTIVATOR." 

1855. 


tJ.MVERi^ITY   CnATEL,   ChAPEL   HiLL,  N.  C,     • 

Jufw.  bfh,  1855. 
Dear  Sir: — You   will  please  accept  the  sincere  thanks  of  the  Graduating 
Class,    for  the    interesting   Sermon,   addressed  to   us,   last  evening,   in  thi? 
house. 

It  is  but  littlo,  that  wc  acknowledge  our  more  than  satisfaction,  and  high 
appreciation  of  the  eflbr' ;  allow  us  to  gay,  that  we  are  not  contented  to  have 
hoard  once,  so  learned  and  masterlj'  a  discourse,  which  convinced  us  so 
thoroughly  of  the  D-ut/i  of  Christianity  ;  but,  we  desire  to  turn  over  its  pages 
(rurselves,  and  offef  to  others  the  same  privilege.  We  would,  therefore,  res- 
pectfully solicit  a  copy  for  publication. 

Adding  our  own  earnest  solicitation  to  that  of  the  class,  and  hoping  vou 
may  see  fit  to  comply  with  our  request,  we  beg  leave  to  sign  ourselves, 
Your  bumble  serv'ts, 

J  AS.  H.  COLTON, 
JAS.  PARK, 
D.  E.  MoNAIR, 
Committee  of  the  Grad.  Clasy. 
jRev.  B.  M.  J'alnur,  D.  D. 


Chapel  Hill,  N.  C,  Jv.ne  5,  1855. 
To  Meters.  J.  H.  Colton  and  oilers,  Cmnjnittee, 

Gentlemen— I  herewith  place  in  your  hands,  the  Discourse  deliveie'l 
on  last  evening,  hoping  and  praying  that  its  serious  perusal  may,  by  the 
Divine  Spirit,  be  blessed  to  those  fur  whom  it  was  prepared. 

With  sincere  reciprocation  of  the  kindly  sentiments  yon  have  so  gratefully 
expressed  in  yonr  note, 

I  am,  Gentlemen, 

Very  truly  yours, 

B.  M.  PALMKR. 


SERMON. 


JOHN  VI.  68,  69. 

"  THEN  SIMON  PETER  ANSWERED  HIM,  LORD,  TO  WHOM  SHALL  WE  GO." 
"  THOU  HAST  THE  WORDS  OF  ETERNAL  LIFE  :  AND  WE  BELIEVE  AND 
ARE  SURE  THAT  THOU  ART  THAT  CHRIST,  THE  SON  OF  THE  LIVING 
GOD." 

The  miracle  of  feeding  five  thousand  men  with 
five  barley  loaves,  was  one  so  practical  and  use- 
ful, that  the  despairing  patriotism  of  the  Jews  was 
suddenly  revived.    The  spirit  of  sturdy  independ- 
ence nourished  through  fifteen  hundred  years  of  a 
supernatural  and  sacred  history,   but  which  had 
chafed  under  nearly  six  centuries  of  tributary  sub- 
jection,   was    now    panting    for    a  deliverer,   as 
when  the  cry  of  their  Fathers  went  up  to  Hea- 
ven under  the  oppressions  of  Egypt.     Might  not 
this   wonder-working  prophet  again  judge  Israel 
with  such  deeds  as  when  the  rams'  horns  of  Joshua 
blew  down  the  walls  of  Jericho :  or  when  the  com- 
panies of  Gideon  broke  their  pitchers  against  the 
camp  of  the  Midianites  ?     And  with  such  a  cham- 
pion might  not  the  rainbow  of  the  ancient  glory 
fonce  more  encircle  the  throne  of  David  ?     With 
siich  thoughts,   tracking  the  Saviour's  mysterious 
path  across  the  sea  of  Galilee,  the  excited  patriots 


6 

were  soon  to  learn  that  His  kingdom  "  was  not ' 
meat  and  drink,  but  righteousness,  and  peace,  and 
joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost."  "  Labour  not  for  the  meat 
which  perisheth,  but  for  that  meat  which  endureth 
unto  everlasting  life,  which  the  Son  of  Man  shall 
give  unto  you ;  for  Him  hath  God  the  Father  seal- 
ed." This  plain  language,  the  only  answer  which 
is  returned  to  their  ambitious  proposal,  the  Jews 
with  all  their  bias,  could  not  well  mistake.  They 
evidently  understood  Christ  as  professing  to  found 
a  new  and  spiritual  dispensation ;  and  requiring  all 
other  systems  to  be  renounced,  not  excepting  Ju- 
daism itself.  As  they  filed  away  in  disappointment 
and  anger,  He  who  came  to  His  own  saw  with 
sorrow  His  own  receiving  him  not ;  and  turning 
with  deepest  pathos  in  His  tone,  He  said  unto  the 
twelve,  '*  Will  ye  also  go  away  ?"  With  that 
characteristic  ardour  which  made  him  always  the 
speaker  of  the  Apostolic  College,  Peter  replies, — 
"  Lord,  to  whom  shall  we  go  ?  Thou  hast  the  word 
of  eternal  life."  He  means  to  say  in  behalf  of  his 
colleagues  and  himself,  that  they  adhere  to  Christ 
upon  the  very  grounds  on  which  others  deserted 
him,  because  He  was  "  the  true  God  and  Eterni*i 
Life.'  Religious  wants  were  developed  in  their 
breasts,  which  made  them  require  such  a  teacher  as 
"that  Christ,  the  son  of  the  living  God."  The 
choice  with  them  lay  not  between  religion   and 


atheism ;  for  a  religion  they  must  have,  and  the  al- 
ternative was  either  of  the  true  or  the  false.  Upon 
a  deliberate  survey  of  all  systems,  both  of  philoso- 
phy and  religion,  Christianity  alone  was  found  to 
solve  their  doubts  and  to  satisfy  their  wants. 

Young  gentlemen,  you  have  seen  in  the  Camera 
a  broad  landscape  of  lake  and  forest  lie,  in  beauti- 
ful though  diminished  proportions,  upon  a  sheet 
of  paper.  It  is  so  with  the  text.  Here  in  the 
pregnant  reply  of  Peter  is  found  an  argument, 
which  covers  the  whole  breadth  of  our  nature. — 
His  rapid  interrogation,  "  to  whom  shall  we  go," 
confesses  man's  need  of  a  divinely  extracted  reli- 
gion. His  affirmation  reveals  the  essential  condi- 
tions it  must  fulfil,  in  teaching  "  the  words  of  eter- 
nal life."  I  propose  now  to  fill  up  this  bold  outline 
with  well-considered  proofs  of  these  two  points : 

I. — Tliat  mariDs  religious  nature  constrains  him 
to  jmd  repose  i/n  some  form  of  faith  cmd  wor- 
ship. 

H. — That  the  xoants  of  this  natwre^  well  under- 
stood^ are  met  onl/y  in  Christianity^  as  taught  in  the 
Gospel. 

I  shall  dwell  chiefly  upon  the  second  proposi- 
tion ;  though  the  first  merits  attention  as  antece- 
dently the  ground-form  of  the  other.  It  would 
evidently  be  supererogatory  to  discuss  the  pre-emi- 
nent fitness  of  any  one  religious   scheme,  if  men 


8 

caa  dispense  with  all  schemes  alike.    The  question 
then  recurs : 

I. — Has  man  a  religiou-s  Tiature  which  compels 
him  to  the  faith  and  warship  of  God?  To  answer 
this  question,  let  us  consider — 

1.  The  elements  which  enter  into  our  own  moi'dl 
constitution.      Take  conscience^  for  example.    With- 
out entering  into  abstract  discussion  of  the  nature 
of  conscience — whether  it  be  an  independent  and 
single  faculty,  or  only  a  name  given  to  the  complex 
operation  of  all  our  powers,  when  directed  to  mo- 
ral subjects — upon  any  view,  it  is  that  department 
of  our  nature  which  makes  us  cognizant  of  law. 
As  the  understanding  distinguishes   between   the 
true  and  the  false,  and  as  the  taste  discriminates  be- 
tween the  beautiful  and  the  vile,  so  conscience  au- 
thoritatively decides  between   the   right  and  the 
wrong.     Now  the  question  arises,  what  is  the  origi- 
nal ground  of  these  moral  distinctions,  the  source 
from  which  they  spring  ?     Evidently,  the  theory  of 
Hobbes  does  not  exhaust  the  inquiry,  that  they  are 
entirely  the  creatures  of  human  prudence,  and  have 
their  foundation  in  human  legislation.       It  is  suffi- 
cient to  reply  that  human  law  is  itself  a  creation, 
and  can  suggest  nothing  beyond  the  contents  of  the 
lawgiver's  own  mind.      In  tracing  a  stream  to  its 
source,  the  navigator  will  not  pause  thus  at  what  is 
at  best  only  the  mouth  of  a  single  tributary.    We 


9 

are  yet  to  be  told  how  these  moral  distinctions  first 
occurred  to  the  legislator,  to  be  impressed  upon  his 
code ;  and  how,  when  suggested  by  him,  they  should 
obtain  so  uniformly  among  men,  as  never  yet  hap- 
pened with  any  institutes  that  were  purely  arbitra- 
ry. If,  then,  we  discover  these  operations  of  con- 
science to  be  universal,  and  can  trace  them  in  an 
ascending  series  above  all  human  legislation,  noth- 
ing remains  but  to  insist  upon  all  morality  as  eter- 
nal and  immutable,  existing  ab  extra,  anterior  to  all 
earthly  enactments ;  and  though  requiring  human 
relations  as  the  sphere  of  its  operation,  yet  having 
its  ground  in  something  far  higher  and  more  endur- 
ing. We  have  exhausted  all  analysis,  when  we 
refer  it  directly  to  the  infinitely  holy  nature  of  God ; 
and  make  the  divine  will,  however  revealed — whe- 
ther in  written  statutes,  or  engraved  upon  our 
moral  constitution — its  ultimate  standard.  Since 
man  was  created  originally  in  Jehovah's  image,  the 
divine  law  was  stamped  upon  his  nature,  the  essen- 
tial condition  of  his  moral  activity,  just  as  the  atmos- 
phere is  the  condition  of  life.  To  this  law  the  con- 
science has  respect  in  all  its  judgments,  as  the  expo- 
nant  of  that  morality  of  which  the  divine  nature  is 
the  ground.  Thus,  if  Conscience  be  a  witness,  seal- 
ing up  its  testimony  to  the  Great  Assize,  its  deposi- 
tions  state  the  contrariety  or  agreement  of  human 
conduct  with  the  precepts  of  this  law.     If  it  be  a 


10 

judge,  sitting  upon  God's  lower  tribunal  in  the  soul, 
its  decisions  are  but  tlie  interpretations  of  the  same 
law.  If  it  be  a  rule,  it  only  proximately  reveals 
the  contents  of  that  primary  law.  Nor  does  it  af- 
fect the  integrity  of  this  argument,  that  Conscience, 
as  a  witness,  is  often  corrupted  by  interest ;  as  a 
judge,  is  biassed  by  passion ;  and  as  a  rule,  is  per- 
verted by  prejudice.  Blinded  by  ignorance,  de- 
filed by  sin,  and  paralyzed  by  resistance,  it  is  still 
an  indestructible  element  of  our  nature.  Mistaken 
often  in  her  judgments,  decisions  she  does  render ; 
incorrect  in  her  interpretations  of  the  law,  exposi- 
tions she  will  give ;  and  though  drugged  by  opiates 
into  occasional  repose,  the  torments  of  the  lost 
show  she  has  power  to  awake,  and  take  ample  re- 
prisals for  the  wrong.  If  Conscience,  then,  be  this 
organ  of  an  original  law  impressed  upon  the  soul, 
every  response  is  a  witness  for  God;  and  every 
Tiioral  judgment  is  an  oracle  bidding  man  find  his 
satisfaction  only  in  a  divine  fellowship. 

Precisely  the  same  line  of  argument  might  be 
pursued  with  any  other  element  of  our  moral  con- 
stitution, say  the  affections.  It  is  as  natural  for  man 
to  love,  as  to  breathe  or  to  think ;  and  he  does  the 
one  or  the  other  by  the  uncontrollable  necessity  of 
his  being.  If  he  lock  up  his  affections  within  his  own 
breast,  he  pays  the  forfeit  of  disobedience  to  the 
social  law  of  the  universe  in  a  blighted  nature,  mil- 


11 

dewing  beneath  the  lichen  and  moss  which  cover 
its  ruins.  It  is  the  peculiar  property  of  love  how- 
ever, that  it  carries  itself  unbroken  and  entire,  to 
each  object  lying  within  a  given  circle.  It  is  not 
something  parcelled  out  in  measure  to  each,  until 
the  whole  is  exhausted ;  but  flowing  forth  in  a  per- 
ennial stream,  the  volume  is  never  diminished  by 
the  extent  of  its  distribution.  Thus  the  parent  bes- 
tows upon  every  child,  the  entire  wealth  of  his  love; 
each  having  the  whole,  though  it  is  shared  by  sever- 
al.* Nor  do  the  human  affections,  like  the  watei*s 
of  the  Nile,  overflow  only  a  single  Delta,  but  are 
distributed  over  all  the  relationships  of  life,  lying 
as  these  do  in  concentric  cu'cles;^so  that  the  whole 
undivided  heart  is  carried  over  from  one  cii'cle  to 
another,  until  all  are  embraced  in  one  comprehen- 
sive fellowship.  What  do  the  expansiveness  and 
unity  of  our  affections  prove,  but  that  when  we 
have  loved  through  the  entire  breadth  of  earthly 
relations,  the  undiminished  heart  remains  to  pour 
its  treasures  into  the  bosom  of  a  Being  higher  and 
nobler  than  ourselves  ?  As  it  sweeps  inward  with 
increasing  intensity  of  love  within  each  narrower  cir- 
cle, should  it  pause  in  its  path  until  it  rests  upon 
the  great  I  Am,  who  is  the  common  centre  of  them 
all?  Each  radius  of  every  circle  in  human  society 
j 

*  This  thought  is  presented  in  Taylor's  Spiritual  Christianity. 


12 

conducts  the  heart  to  that  central  Being  from 
whom  all  others  spring,  and  around  whose  throne 
all  human  orbits  are  described. 

I  must  be  content  with  merely  sketching  thf. 
outline  of  an  argument,  which  cannot  be  filled 
up  without  expanding  this  discourse  into  a  treatise. 
But  you  will  readily  see  how  the  argument  might 
be  conducted  from  the  intellectual  'powers^  feeling 
onward  through  all  nature  to  God,  who  is  the  sum 
and  source  of  all  knowledge.  And  how  again  the  ac- 
tive powers  should  find  their  rest  and  exercise  alike, 
in  obeying  that  Sovereign  will  which  moves  the 
whole  machinery  of  the  universe.  But  these  side 
glances  are  sufficient  to  j'eveal  that,  place  ourselves 
at  what  point  we  may,  in  that  moral  constitution  we 
possess,  not  a  single  element  but  has  a  separate 
voice  for  God ;  and  whose  passionate  yearnings  find 
no  adequate  expression,  but  in  the  language  of  ador- 
ing worship. 

2.  The  existence  of  a  religious  nature  may  he  infer- 
red from  the  tenacity  with  which  religicms  ideas^  mice 
commmiicated^  are  retained  hy  the  mind.  The  ne- 
cessary existence  of  God,  His  moral  government,  the 
holiness  and  immutability  of  His  law,  lie  at  the  ba- 
sis of  all  religion.  It  is  remarkable,  that  whatever 
be  the  source  of  our  knowledge  upon  these  points, 
they  are  accepted  upon  the  first  statement,  and  can 
never  afterwards  be  dislodged.     Received,  like  the 


13 

light,  upon  tlieir  own  evidence,  however  capable  of 
proof  by  reason,  they  do  not  depend  upon  argu- 
ment for  their  propagation  in  the  world.    They  seem 
to  enter  at  once  into  the  very  texture  of  the  mind ; 
so  that  though  overlaid,  obscured,  perverted,  they 
are  never  forgotten  nor  erased.     Thus,  for  example, 
while  "  the  glory  of  the  incorruptible  God  has  been 
changed  into  an  image,  made  like  to  corruptible 
man,  and  to  birds,  and  to  four-footed  beasts,  and  to 
creeping  things,"  yet  the  great  idea  itself  of  God's 
existence  has  never  been  eradicated.      The  very 
superstition  which  has  multiplied  the  one  living  Je- 
hovah into  "  Lords  many  and  Gods  many,"  and  the 
idolatry  which  has  attempted   to  symbolize  and 
bring  the  Deity  within  the  range  of  human  thought, 
only  show  how  originally  cognate  to  the  souls  of 
men  is  the  notion  of  a  God.     It  would  be  easy  to 
descend  into  a  particular  enumeration  of  religious 
opinions,  which  have  resolutely  maintained  their 
dominion  over  the  human  conscience.     The  admis- 
sion of  man's  sinfulness  and  consequent  ex]^)osure  to 
the  divine  curse,  is  expressed  in  the  deprecatory 
rites  of  every  false  religion.      The  myths  and  le- 
gends, which  form  the  oracles  of  Pagan  antiquity, 
universally  recognise   God's  conversableness  with 
man,  notwithstanding  his  apostasy.     The  incarna- 
tion of  the  Deity  looms  out  in  the  numerous  Ayli- 
tars  of  the  Hindoos,  as  well  as  in  the  anthropomor- 


14 

phic  manifestations  of  the  gods  of  classical  mythol- 
ogy. The  altar-fires  which  have  burned  upon 
every  hill,  lift  up  a  universal  testimony  to  the  doc- 
trine of  redemption  by  sacrifice.  Indeed,  these 
truths,  broken  off  from  an  original  revelation,  have 
intermingled  themselves,  fragmentary  and  distorted, 
with  all  the  superstitions  of  men.  They  have  be- 
come interwoven  with  all  their  religious  associations 
and  emotions;  and  though  rendered  grotesque  by 
the  additions  of  a  credulous  superstition,  they  are 
nevertheless  the  archetypes  of  all  those  fables  which 
describe  God's  commerce  with  mankind  and  contain 
thus  the  essence  even  of  Heathen  religion.  Now, 
could  these  truths  command  so  universally  the  im- 
mediate assent  of  men,  if  there  was  not  a  suscepti- 
bility for  their  reception  ?  And  to  what  but  the 
congeniality  of  a  religious  nature  can  we  ascribe 
the  fact,  that  amidst  a  thousand  distortions  and  ob- 
scurations, they  have  never  yet  been  eliminated 
from  the  human  soul  ? 

3.  But  once  for  all :  a  conclusive  argument  for 
man's  religious  nature  is  found  in  the  uni/versal prev- 
alence of  religion  and  worship  in  so  many  diwerse  forms 
over  the  globe.  Man  is  no  where  without  a  religion. 
Even  in  that  savage  state,  where  the  attributes  of 
humanity  are  scarcely  discovered,  the  traces  of  wor- 
ship can  be  detected  among  the  Bushmen  and  Hot- 
tentots of  Africa.      We  perceive  it  equally  in  the 


15 

^symbol-worship  of  ancient  Egypt,  in  the  fire-wor- 
ship of  ancient  Persia,  in  the  star-worship  and  divi- 
nation of  ancient  Chaldea.  We  trace  it  in  the 
dreamy  contemplations  of  the  Hindoo,  seeking  ab- 
sorption into  the  pure  being  of  Brahm  ;  and  in  the 
mystical  theism  of  the  Buddhist,  who  seeks  in  the 
Grand  Lama  a  glorified  man  who  shall  be  the  High 
Priest  of  the  Universe,  the  central  manifestation  and 
representative  of  the  Divine  intelligence.  We  dis- 
cover it  in  the  old  patriarchal  faith  of  China,  which 
makes  social  order  the  first  principle  of  religion,  and 
the  Emperor  the  abiding  representative  of  fatherly 
iauthority.  It  sparkles  before  us  in  the  poetical  my- 
thology of  classic  Greece,  whose  beautiful  concep- 
tions, eschewing  an  abstract  Divinity,  transfigure 
men  into  Gods,  presiding  over  all  the  departments 
of  nature  and  forming  a  grand  senate  upon  the  top 
of  Olympus.  It  clothes  itself  in  the  steel  armour 
)of  ancient  Rome,  and  sits  upon  the  Capitol  as  a  re- 
ligion of  Government  and  law.  It  utters  itself  in 
the  wild  battle  cry  of  the  Mahometan,  claiming  as 
Jiis  mission  the  practical  assertion  of  a  sovereign  will 
ruling  over  the  earth,  which  had  nearly  become  ob- 
solete amidst  the  theosophic  speculations  and  idola- 
trous Image-worship  of  Christendom.  Amidst  the 
Idark  forests  of  Germany,  the  Goth  worshipped  the 
earth  as  his  mother,  and  bowed  before  the  God  of 
:the  mist  and  the  storm. 


16 

But  I  must  not  omit  to  mention  what  will  strength- 
en my  argument  as  much  as  it  will  awaken  your  ad- 
miration, the  wonderful  vitality  of  these  ancient 
faiths,  inadequate  as  they  seem  to  resist  a  violent  "*  | 
pressure  from  without.  Buddhism,  for  example, 
passed  over  from  Thibet  and  Burmah  into  China, 
and  drove  before  it  the  cold  state  worship  of  Con- 
fucius. But  it  could  not  entirely  expel  it :  and  now 
the  two  religions  with  all  their  antitheses  are  seen 
side  by  side,  dividing  the  homage  of  the  Celestial  Em- 
pire. During  five  centuries  the  old  Persian  faith  lay 
crushed  and  smothered  under  the  Parthian  dynasty. 
Yet  it  experienced  at  last  a  resurrection  to  power ; 
and  the  religion  of  Zoroaster,  restored  by  the  Ma- 
gians,  connected  the  new  kingdom  with  the  old  em- 
pire of  Cyrus.  Again  it  was  overborne  by  the  stern 
proscription  of  Mahometan  fanaticism ;  yet  is  it  seen 
cropping  out  from  the  surface  in  an  element  of  Pan- 
theism it  has  breathed  into  the  doctrine  of  the  Ko- 
ran. In  like  manner,  the  dreamy  Hindoo  religion, 
now  hoary  with  the  lapse  of  thirty  centuries,  survived 
the  invasion  of  its  kindred  Buddhism ;  and  though 
again  overlaid  by  the  conquering  creed  of  the  Mus- 
sulman, its  secret  life  was  still  preserved,  surviving 
merely  by  its  own  passive  endurance.  How  shall  these 
facts  of  history*  be  explained,  unless  these  various 

*  All  of  which  have  been  taken  from  Maurice's  "  Religions  of  the  World." 


17 

systems  are  admitted  to  contain  some  element  of 
trutli  whicli  finds  an  echo  in  the  human  soul  ?  We 
stand  nowhere  upon  this  broad  earth  where  a  ca- 
pacity for  religion  does  not  appear  a  characteristic 
of  the  race.  Wherever  we  find  the  power  of  rea- 
son and  the  exercise  of  thought,  we  discover  traces 
of  the  religious  sentiment— often  dark  and  gloomy, 
grotesque  and  wild,  sensual  and  licentious,  fanatical 
and  bloody ;  yet  sufficient  to  prove  that  man  is,  in 
the  broad  etymology  of  the  term,  a  religious  be- 
ing. 

The  only  exceptions,  I  confess  at  all  perplexing, 
are  those   persons  in  Christian  lands,  who  seem  to 
live  without  any  restraints  of  piety  or  forms  of  de- 
votion; who  enter  no  sanctuaries,  and  bow  before  no 
altars,  and  who  speak  only  the  language  of  profane- 
ness  and  blasphemy.      It  is  a  portentous  fact  that 
the  only  men,  who  even  in  ap^^earance  are  apostates 
from  all  religion,  should  be  found  in   the  heart  of 
Christianity  itself.    Yet  the  strange  paradox  admits 
an  easy  solution.    Where  the  forms  of  religion  are 
Fuch  as  suit  the  carnal  taste,  man  is  under  no  temp- 
tj^tion  to  be  a  dissenter  from  the  national  worship. 
But  where  idolatry,  in  its  Protean  shapes,  is  exclud- 
ed by  the  light  of  the  Gospel,  there  is  no  resource  for 
that  carnal  mind  which  is  enmity  against  God  but 
in  this  practical  Atheism.      Yet  is  it  moi'e  apparent 
than  real.    The  current  religious  opinions  taken  up 


18 

Deity.  I  might  tell  you  of  the  long  process  by 
which  this  conception  was  transferred  to  the  human 
mind,  and  wrought  into  human  belief.  How  that 
for  three  thousand  years,  the  inspired  prophet  has 
stood  side  by  side  with  the  historian,  pointing  to  the 
judgments  with  which  an  avenging  providence  has 
overtaken  the  transgressions  of  men,  converting  all 
history  into  a  discipline  of  this  great  truth,  God's 
abhorrence  of  all  impurity  and  sin.  I  might  describe 
minutely  that  splendid  Mosaic  ritual  given  amidst 
lightning  and  tempest  from  the  top  of  Sinai ;  its  sacri- 
fices, lustrations,  and  ablutions,  creating  a  language 
of  symbols  to  convey  and  express  accurately  to  man 
the  abstract  idea  of  God's  infinite  holiness.*  But 
the  waning  moments  warn  me  not  to  attempt  an  ex- 
haustive  argument. 

I  must  be  content  with  asking  where  but  in  the 
Jehovah  of  the  Scriptures  do  we  find  such  a  cluster 
of  perfections  as  is  set  forth  in  this  answer  of  our  Sab- 
bath Scholar  ?  If  we  pass  through  the  Pantheon 
of  Pagan  Greece,  the  God  within  each  separate  niche 
is  but  the  personification  of  a  single  attribute. — 
Apollo,  with  his  quiver  and  bow,  embodies  the  con- 
ception of  Wisdom  ;  Venus,  that  of  love ;  Mars,  of 
power ;  Bacchus,  of  inspiration ;  Chronos,  devouring 
his  own  offspring,  of  time  stretching  back  into  an 


*  See  this  well  presented  in  an  anonymous  work  entitled  "  Philosophy  of  the 
Plan  of  Salvation?' 


19 

untold  and  unreckoned  duration;  while  Jupiter 
himself  represents  only  the  abstract  notion  of  supre- 
macy, or  dominion.  And  when  the  acute  Philoso- 
phy of  Greece  applied  itself  to  the  interpretation  of 
these  poetical  Theogonies,  and  sought  the  deep  and 
hidden  ground  out  of  which  they  sprung,  even  the 
Heirophants  of  the  mysteries  failed  to  combine  these 
vsepairate  qualities  into  one  complex  conception ;  but 
lost  themselves  in  the  abyss  of  God's  unfathomed 
being,  or  traced  His  manifestations  only  in  a  degrad- 
ing pantheism. 

But  Christianity  differs  not  less  from  all  heathen 
religions  in  asserting  the  distinct  personality  of  the 
supreme  being.     The  term  God  in  the  Scriptures  is 
not  a  mere  envelope,  binding  into  one  complex  con- 
ception these   separate  and  abstract  qualities,  con. 
verting  the  Deity  only  into  a  bundle  of  attributes. 
The  Bible  presents   Jehovah  to  our  faith  and  wor- 
ship as  a  personal  being,  of  whose  living  nature  these 
perfections  may  -be  predicated,  and  from  which  they 
are  unfolded.      When   on   the   contrary  we  turn 
back  to  the  religions  of  antiquity,  we  discover  eith- 
er the  mythical  popular  faith,  through  the  creations 
of  the    poets,   deifying   the  powers  of  nature,  and 
multiplying  Gods  until  they  shall  equal  all  her  di- 
versified phenomena ;  or  else   the  speculative  spirit 
resolving  all  into  a  philosophical  pantheism,  in  which 
the  universe  was  viewed  as  a  concrete  (deity,  and 


20 

God  was  regarded  only  as  the  auimating  soul  of  na- 
ture.     In  both  cases,   the  personality  of  God   was 
lost,  and  He  was  hoj^elessly  entangled  witli  His  uni- 
verse.     Nor  is  it  better  when  we  pass  to  the  more 
profound  and  speculative  theosophy  of  the  East. — 
The  Indian  mystic  is  lost  in  the  dream  of  compass- 
ing the  absolute  intelligence  of  Brahm  or   Buddh ; 
and  the  Persian  Magus  is  swallowed  in  the  abyss  of 
that  illimitable  Being,  out  of  whom  light  and  dark- 
ness alike  spring.      How  shall  the  Infinite  pass  out 
from  the  ButJios  of  His  own  essence  into  manifesta- 
tion, and  how  shall  he  pass  back  again  into  pure  be- 
ing ?     How  shall  the  chasm  be  bridged  between  the 
Infinite  and  the  finite  ?      In  vain  does  the  oriental 
hypostatize  the  powers  of  Deity,  and  substitute  liv- 
ing personalities  for  abstract  mental  conceptions.  He 
has  either  peopled  the  universe  with  whole  genera- 
tions of  fantastic  aeons,  or,  his  dualism  resolves  itself 
into  pantheistic  manicheism.     God  is  not  a  personal 
subsistence,  but  only  a  name  givenv  to  the  general 
notion  of  spirit ;  which  :becoming  mysteriously  co- 
agulated with  matter,   passes  back  through  various 
stages  of  development  and  purification,   until  it  is 
swallowed   and  lost  in    the  abyss   of   the  primal 
essence  a2:ain. 

Here,  then,  does  apologetic  Christianity  take  her 
first  ground  of  defence.  She  presents  to  man  the 
living  Jehovah  as  the  object  of  worship :  not   the 


21 

personification  of  tliis  or  tliat  single  trait ;  not  the 
deification  of  this  or  that  power  of  nature ;  not  a 
Pantheus  wearing  the  universe  as  His  outside  gar- 
ment ;  not  the  symbol  merely  of  such  abstract  con- 
ceptions as  absolute  intelligence,  or  illimitable  be- 
ing, but  a  living,  personal  God,  a  spirit  infinite  and 
eternal,  separate  from  matter,  creating  all  things 
by  the  word  of  His  power,  and  by  w^hom  all 
things  consist.  It  is  not  simple  being,  and  then  it 
is  Brahm  ;  it  is  not  pure  intelligence,  and  then  it  is 
Buddh ;  it  is  not  a  destroyer,  and  then  it  is  Siva  ;  it 
is  not  a  restorer,  and  then  it  is  Vishna' ;  it  is  not  a 
malignant  hater,  and  then  it  is  Kali ;  it  is  not  an 
arbitrary  and  mighty  ruler,  and  then  it  is  Allah ; 
but  it  is  the  one  living  and  true  God,  glorious  in 
holiness,  fearful  in  praises  and  doing  wonders :  one 
God,  Father,  Son  and  Holy  Ghost,  infinitely  bles- 
sed in  the  communion  of  the  Trinity,  the  living  Je- 
hovah, maker  of  Heaven  and  Earth,  the  creator, 
preserver,  Kedeemer;  the  lawgiver,  ruler  and  judge, 
the  everlasting  father  and  unfailing  portion  of  all 
who  trust,  and  love,  and  worship  him. 

2.  Christianity  is  the  only  religion  for  man^  Hnc^ 
it  alone  reveals  his  true  clmracter  and  his  future  des- 
tiny. What  satisfactory  accounts  do  Pagan  theo- 
logians give  of  the  human  soul ;  who  now  consider 
it  a  spark  emitted  from  the  divine  essence,  and  now 
regard  it  as  matter  in  its  most  sublimated  and  ethe- 


22 

rial  form  ?  Plato  sought  to  establish,  by  probable 
reasoning,  the  soul's  immortality  ;  yet  with  argu- 
ments so  airy  and  unsubstantial  that  Cicero  mourn- 
fully confesses  they  eluded  his  grasp,  so  soon  as  the 
book  containing  them  was  laid  aside.  In  what  way 
the  soul  survives  the  shock  of  death,  and  whether 
in  the  world  of  spirits  it  will  have  an  individual 
subsistence  as  on  earth,  were  left  wholly  unresolv- 
ed. The  more  positive  and  adventurous  theosophy 
of  the  East,  gave  a  reply  indeed,  but  a  reply  which 
reduced  all  religion  to  emptiness  and  air.  In  their 
scheme,  after  countless  transmigrations,  the  soul 
was  stripped  of  all  limitation  and  individuality,  and 
merged  into  the  substance  of  the  Deity,  as  a  drop  of 
water  loses  itself  in  the  abyss  of  ocean. 

While  the  Pagan  conscience  too,  like  Laocoon  in 
the  embrace  of  the  serpent,  was  writhing  under  a 
sense  of  the  divine  displeasure,  what  rational  ex- 
planation was  given  of  sin  ?  Blindly  conscious 
only  of  disruption  from  God,  and  of  the  power  of 
evil,  their  utterances  were  only  the  inarticulate 
groans  of  a  sick  man  under  the  oppression  of  fright- 
ful dreams.  Knowing  nothing  of  a  perfect  moral 
law,  impressed  upon  us  as  the  guide  of  our  nature, 
which  man,  in  the  exercise  of  his  freedom  as  a  res- 
ponsible being  had  violated,  sin  was  nothing  but 
physical  evil,  arising  from  the  soul's  alliance  with 
matter.     Instead  of  being  the  corruption  and  defile- 


23 

ment  of  the  moral  nature,  it  was  only  the  thraldom 
of  spiiit  in  the  fetters  of  material  bondage.  Re- 
demption was  only  deliverance  from  this  hateful 
alliance — the  only  purgation  was  metempsy  chosis  ; 
and  salvation  but  a  name  for  final  re-absorption  into 
Deity.  Their  moral  discipline  ol  necessity,  either 
diverged  into  a  gloomy  asceticism  on  the  one  hand, 
or  else  apostatized  into  lawless  licentiousness  on  the 
other. 

What  light  again  did  Pagan  theology  shed  upon 
the  awful  mystery  of  death  ?  What  hand  lifted  the 
dark  curtain  which  tails  upon  the  stage  of  human 
life,  showing  whither  the  actors  have  fled  ?  A  little 
chattering  nonsense  of  Charon  and  the  river  Styx, 
and  the  shades  seen  flitting  through  the  gloom  of 
Tartarus,  is  all  that  we  find  written  upon  the  leaves 
of  the  ancient  sibyl.  When  the  sepulchral  lamp 
revealed  the  body  "  clothed  with  all  the  dishonors 
of  corruption,"  what  heathen  gospel  "  brought 
life  and  immortality  to  light  ?"  The  total  ignorance 
which  prevailed  as  to  the  resurrection  of  the  body, 
vitiated  the  whole  Heathen  doctrine  of  a  future 
state.  Even  Cicero,  illuminated  as  he  was  with  all  the 
science  and  philosophy  of  antiquity,  declared  him- 
self unable  to  conceive  of  embodied  spirit  And  take 
away  the  retributions  of  -a  future  world,  what 
sanctions  has  religion  with  which  to  bind  the  con- 
sciences of  men,  putting  her  police  into  every  liu- 


24 

man  breast  ?  "  There  is  li02:>e  of  a  tree,  if  it  be  cut 
down,  that  it  will  sprout  again,  and  through  the 
ficent  of  water  will  bud  and  bring  forth  boughs  like 
;•  plant:"  l>ut  which  of  the  ancient  augurs  interpre- 
ted tliese  analogies  to  the  soul  exclaiming  in  the  tor- 
ture ot  despair,  "  If  a  man  die  shall  he  live  again  V\ 
Socrates  could  say,  when  asked  by  Crito,  how  he 
should  be  buried,  "  as  you  please,  provided  I  do  not 
escape  out  of  your  hands,"  and  enjoined  upon  his 
friends  not  to  mourn  over  his  lifeless  corpse,  as  if  it 
were  Socrates.  And  this  was  the  highest  reach  of 
Heathen  Divinity,  to  disown  a  part  of  one  beiu^-, 
and  to  the  extent  of  one-half  our  nature,  to  consent 
to  certain  annihilatioii.  How  much  more  thrilling 
the  language  which  the  scripture  put  in  the  mouth 
of  one  who  lived  five  centuries  before  Socrates,'  "  My 
flesh  also  shall  rest  in  hope,  for  thou  wilt  not  leave 
my  soul  in  hell,  neither  shall  thy  holy  one  see  cor- 
ruption ;  thou  wilt  show  me  the  path  of  life,  in  thy 
presence  is  fulness  of  joy,  at  thy  right  hand  are 
pleasures  for  evermore."  Christianity  reveals  one  to 
us,  of  whom  these  words  were  prophetically  utter- 
ed a  full  millenium  before  his  advent,  one  who  is 
the  Lord  of  the  Kesurrection,  who  has  redeemed 
both  bod}'  and  soul,  and  made  them  partakers  of 
the  same  adoption ;  one  who  ])oth  died,  and  rose  and 
revived,  that  he  might  be  the  Lord,  both  of  the  dead 
and  of  the  living;  and  who  henceforward  proclaims 


25 

himself,  in  this  royal  style,  "  I  am  he  that  liveth 
and  was  dead,  and  behold  I  am  alive  forevermore, 
and  have  the  keys  of  hell  and  deatli."  A  religion 
then,  whose  inspired  voice  anthenticates  such  truths, 
discloses  the  real  nature  of  that  disease  it  designs  to 
heal,  and  brings  the  distinct  doctrine  of  a  future 
state  to  sanction  its  claims,  is  beyond  competition. 
And  upon  this  ground  does  christiaiiity  challenge 
your  verdict  as  the  only  true  religion  of  man  on 
earth. 

3.  In  the  third  place,  I  present  you  the  argu- 
ment of  Isaac  Taylor,  though  in  a  different  form, 
tliat  diristianiiy  rests  upon  a  Idstovkal  hasis  ;  it  is 
a  religion  of  facts.  The  religions  of  antiquity,  from 
first  to  last,  were  w]-ouo;ht  in  the  foro-e  of  meta- 
physical  speculation.  Destitute  of  a  written  revela- 
tion, and  with  only  a  confused  traditive  remem- 
brance of  God's  primitive  manifestations  to  the 
race,  they  substituted  fancies  for  facts,  and  reasoned 
rather  than  believed.  Thus  from  age  to  age  their 
cosmogonies  were  weaved  with  endless  toil,  myste- 
riously unravelled  as  fast  as  they  were  spun.  Not 
content  to  know  God,  simply  as  the  creator  of  the 
universe,  they  would  determine  lioiu  He  is  the  au- 
thor of  all  existence.  Postulating  a  process  of  de- 
velopment in  the  very  nature  of  Deity,  they  con- 
strued all  existence  to  be  an  eflSlux  from  the  Su- 
preme being.      The  necessary  lesult  of  grounding 


26 

all  religion  upon  reason  rather  than  faith  is  the  in- 
troduction of  an  aristocratic  element.  The  wor- 
shippers are  divided  into  two  classes ;  the  initiated 
or  sacerdotal  caste,  whose  theosophic  speculations 
arc  locked  up  in  hieroglyphic  and  esoteric  symbols, 
and  the  unelect  masses  who  must  be  content  with  a 
mythical  faith  expressed  in  concrete  and  sensible 
images.  Thus  was  it  ever  impossible  for  these  an- 
cient systems  to  embrace  the  race  of  man  in  a  close 
religious  brotherhood  :  and  during  six  thousand 
years  the  world  has  rocked  uneasily  between  the 
desperation  of  unbelief,  giving  it  over  a  prey  to  su- 
perstition, and  the  irrationality  of  superstition 
driving  it  back  to  infidelity. 

Now,  in  glowing  contrast  with  all  this,  consider 
the  influence  of  Christianity  as  a  religion  of  simple 
facts.  It  opens  with  the  grand  announcement  that 
God  is ;  and  to  all  presumptuous  inquiries  into  his 
essence,  the  rebuke  comes  with  a  voice  of  thunder 
from  His  pavilion,  "  Canst  thou,  by  searching,  find 
out  God  ?  Canst  thou  find  out  the  Almighty  unto 
perfection  ?  It  is  high  as  Heaven,  what  canst 
thou  do  ?  Deeper  than  hell,  what  canst  thou  know: 
the  measure  thereof  is  longer  than  the  earth,  and 
broader  than  the  sea.  If  men  would  inquire  into 
the  generation  of  the  universe,  it  turns  the  eye  of 
faith,  beyond  the  whole  series  of  outward  pheno- 
mena, to  God's   infinite  power,  and   contemplates 


.27 

( creation  as  a  great  incompreliensible  fact :  "  tlirougli 
i  faith  we  understand  that  the  worlds  were  framed  by 
'  the  word  of  God,  so  that  things  which  are  seen,  were 
!  not  made  of  things  which  do  appear."  It  does  not 
suffer  a  metaphysical  trinity  like  the  Hindoo,  Budd- 
hist, or  Platonic  to  be  spun  from  human  specula- 
tions, but  baptizes  us  into  the  name  of  the  one  God. 
Father,  Son  and  Holy  Ghost.  It  deals  in  no  alio 
gories  of  incarnate  deitirs,  but  declares  as  fact,  "the 
Lord  was  made  flesh  and  dwelt  amongst  us,  and  we 
beheld  His  glory."  It  reveals  God,  not  as  a  blind 
fate,  working  concealed  behind  necessary  laws  of 
nature,  but  God  moving  up  and  down  in  Human 
History,  "  doing  His  pleasure  among  the  armies  of 
heaven,  and  among  the  inhabitants  of  earth."  It 
proclaims  an  Historical  Christ,  who  lived  and  wept 
and  died  among  men,  and  who  now  reigns  "  a  Prince 
and  a  Saviour  at  the  right  hand  of  the  Majesty  in 
the  Heavens." 

It  has  a  philosophy,  indeed,  which  reason's  golden 
reed  shall  take  an  eternity  to  measure,  for  the  length 
and  the  breadth  and  the  height  of  it  are  equal ;  a 
philosophy,  whose  depth  shall  not  be  j^lumbed  this 
side  the  gates  of  heaven.  Yet,  as  a  religion,  its  ba- 
sis is  the  testimony  of  God,  accrediting  the  facts 
which  are  level  to  the  peasant  and  the  sage  alike. — 
Both  accept  it  upon  the  same  grounds,  and  by  the 
same  faith  in  a  divine  testimony.     Thus  Christiani- 


28 

ty  is  competent  to  be,  Avliat  Paganism  is  not,  a  ca- 
tholic religion  for  man  as  man,  embracing  within  its 
campreheusio^,  sympathy,  and  holy  fellowship,  all 
ranks  of  social  condition. 

4.    I   draw  your  attention  next  to  a  point  most 
material  in  this   defence:  tliat  ChriMianity  is  pre 
eminently  a  religion  of  hu\  and  alone  solves  the  iwo- 
Uems  wlikli  arise  from  tlic  Holiness  and  Justice   of 
Jelwvali. 

We  cannot  conceive  of  a  finite  moral  being  who 
is  not,  ex  vi  termini,  a  subject  of  law.  If  he  is  en- 
dowed with  understanding,  conscience  and  will,  he 
must  l)e  cognizant  of  duty ;  and  if  he  is  a  created 
being,  his  limited  faculties  require  the  guidance  of  a 
perfect  standard  of  virtue.  Angels  in  Heaven,  and 
devils  in  Hell  are  neither  of  them  exempt  from  the 
jurisdiction  of  law,  simply  because  they  have  passed 
the  bounds  of  probation.  The  blessedness  of  the 
one  consists  in  the  reward  bestowed  upon  a  perfect 
and  confirmed  obedience,  as  the  penalty  inflicted 
upon  continual  and  hopeless  transgression  occasions 
the  misery  of  the  other.  ISTo  heresy  can  be  more 
glaring  or  fatal  than  that  of  the  anti-nomian ;  who 
not  only  strikes  at  the  authority  of  God,  but  repu- 
diates also  the  nature  which  is  given  to  man,  and 
utterly  destroys  the  morality  of  eveiy  human  ac- 
tion. Here  was  the  capital  defect  of  Pagan  theolo- 
gy.    It  regarded  simply  the  abstract  existence,  or 


20 

else  the  natural  perfections  of  the  Deity.  Its  effort 
was  by  transcendental  speculations  to  compass  the 
mystery  of  his  being,  and  then  to  explain  how  he 
can  be  the  author  of  the  material  world  so  alien 
from  his  essence.  Such  inquiries  were  however  rath- 
er physical  than  moral.  The  infinite  purity  of  His 
nature  formed  no  part  of  their  conception  of  God  ; 
nor  did  they  recognize  a  holy  and  immutable  law 
which  should  express  his  claims  upon  the  love  and 
obedience  of  his  subjects.  Hence  the  grand  pro- 
blem of  all  religion,  how  God  shall  he  "just  and  yet 
justify  the  ungodly,"  was  never  even  proposed  for 
solution.  If  hecatombs  smoked  on  heathen  altiirs, 
it  was  to  placate  the  capricious  anger  of  beings  who 
were  mighty,  rather  than  to  appease  the  holy  wrath 
of  a  wise  and  righteous  ruler. 

Precisely  the  same  fatal  defect  vitiates  all  the  fond 
schemes  devised  by  the  Deists  of  the  17th  and  18th 
centuries,  who  labored  to  trick  ofi:*  natural  relio-ion 
and  to  set  her  up  as  the  rival  of  m€>ral  Christianity. 
Whether  it  be  contended — as  in  one  school  seduced 
l)y  a  false  analogy  with  human  governments — that 
God  may,  in  the  exercise  of  mere  supremacy,  remit 
the  penalty  of  the  law  and  grant  a  general  amnesty 
to  transgressors ;  or,  as  in  another,  that  simj^le  re- 
pentance is  a  sufficient  ground  of  Divine  forgiveness; 
or,  as  in  a  third,  that  God  may  j^unish  sin  in  part, 
either  in  the  sufferings  of  this  life  or  in  the  purgato- 


30 

rial  torments  of  the  next ;  in  all  alike,  tlie  holiness 
of  God  is  sunk  out  of  view — the  law,  which  from  its 
absolute  perfection  must  be  immutable,  is  cancelled 
— or  else  sentence  is  craftily  commuted,  by  the  sub» 
stitution  of  another  penalty  than  that  which  origin- 
ally enforced  its  claims. 

Yet  this  difficulty,  which  baffles  alike  the  wisdom 
of  the  rationalist  and  the  mystic,  Christianity  bold- 
ly and  honestly  meets  in  its  doctrine  of  atonement. 
It  openly  proclaims  the  unchangeable  holiness  of  the 
Divine  law ;  but  announces  salvation  to  the  sinner, 
through  a  perfect  satisfaction  rendered  to  its  dread- 
ful curse.  It  provides  a  surety  for  the  sinner  in  the 
person  of  God's  Eternal  Son ;  who,  being  above  the 
law,  owes  no  obedience  for  himself;  who,  having 
infinite  resources,  is  able  to  endure  the  Father's 
wrath  ;  who  being  God,  has  power  to  lay  down  his 
life  and  power  to  take  it  again.  His  Divine  substi- 
tute becomes  a  true  man  by  supernatural  birth  of 
a  virgin,  and  for  man  passes  under  the  law  to  en- 
dure its  curse.  By  legal  union  with  Him,  this  obe- 
dience glorious  above  all  other  obedience  in  being 
rendered  to  both  precept  and  penalty  alike,  is  reck- 
oned to  the  beliver  as  though  accomplished  by  him- 
self. And  in  this  righteousness  which  meets  every 
challenge  of  the  law,  the  sinner  is  henceforward  ac- 
quitted and  accepted  before  the  Judge.  Nor  is  this 
all.      The  transgressor's  own  conscience  is  purged 


31 

from  a  sense  of  guilt,  and  by  this  reconciliation 
with  the  law  the  very  ground  is  removed  upon 
which  all  accusations  rested.  Thus  does  Chris- 
tianity build  itself  upon  eternal  principles  of  righte- 
ousness and  of  law;  and  justice  no  less  than  mercy 
becomes  the  guarantee  of  our  salvation.  Not  more 
surely .  Gerizim  and  Ebal  of  old  echo  to  each  other 
across  the  vale  of  Shechem  the  blessings  and  the 
curses  of  the  Mosaic  covenant,  than  from  Calvary 
!  to  Sinai  the  fulfilled  curse  rebounds  across  a  ran- 
somed world.  And  in  the  poi'ch  of  that  august  tem- 
ple which  Christianity  has  reared,  wherein  all  na- 
tions shall  gather  to  worship,  the  Justice  and  the 
Grace  of  God  shall  forever  stand,  the  Jachin  and 
the  Boaz,  the  pillars  of  stability  and  strength  as  well 
as  the  glory  and  the  ornament. 

5.  I  ascend  another  step  in  reaching  to  "the  height 
of  this  great  argument,"  when  I  say  that  Christiani- 
ty is  the  only  reUgimi  which  provides  for  the  renova- 
tion of  onr  nature,  in  its  doctrine  of  the  new  hirth. — 
Sin  has  not  only  deranged  our  relations  to  God,  but 
has  cut  us  off  from  Him  who  is  the  only  source  of 
the  Creature's  holiness,  corrupting  all  his  nature. — 
Even  supposing  reconcihation  with  law  to  be  effect- 
ed, how  is  this  new  difficulty  to  be  met  ?  Should 
the  sinner  by  a  judicial  decree  or  by  the  exercise  of 
arbitrary  power  be  elevated  to  Heaven,  the  necessa- 
ry repulsion  between  his  defilement  and  the  Divine 


32 

jturity  would  precipitate  him  even  from  tlie  steps  of 
the  eternal  throne,  or  change  the  joys  of  Heaven  in- 
to instruments  of  torture : 


-Fiom  the  bottom  stirs 


The  Hell  wilhin  him  ;  for  within  him  hell 
He  brings,  and  round  about  him,  nor  irom  hell 
One  steji,  no  more  than  from  himself,  can  fly 
By  change  of  place." 

What  remedy  does  the  intellectual  idolatry  of  the 
Deist,  or  the  grosser  idolatry  of  the  Pagan,  provide 
for  this  exigency  ?  Neither  the  cold  ethics  of  the 
one,  nor  the  bloody  rites  of  the  other,  undertake  to 
I'ectify  the  inward  nature  of  man  and  to  fit  it  for 
obedience  or  worship.  Hence  communion  of  soul 
with  God  forms  no  part  of  either  scheme.  It  is  as 
though  a  pardon  should  be  brought  after  the  poor 
criminal  lies  cold  under  the  executed  sentence  of  the 
law.  The  form  of  a  man  is  there,  Avith  all  the  or- 
gans perfect  and  entire,  but  mo  more  instinct  with 
life.  Just  here  Christianity  interposes  with  its  di- 
vine remedy.  An  almighty  energy  quickens  once 
more  that  prostrate  form  ;  and  the  supple  organs 
play  again,  obedient  to  the  mysterious  princij^le  of 
life,  w^hich  actuates  and  moves  the  whole.  Were  I 
called  upon  to  select  a  single  verse  from  the  Bible 
upon  which  the  last  issue  of  Christianity  should  be 
staked,  the  oracle  of  Christ  to  Nicodemus  should  be 
tbat  pass  of  Thermopylae  where  its  truth  should 
stand  or  fall :  "  Verily,  verily,  I   say  unto  thee,  ex- 


33 

cept  a  man  be  born  again,  be  shall  not  see  tlie  king- 
dom of  God."     And  with  the  air  of  one  who  is  as- 
sured of  his  triumph,   I  would   proclaim  the  chal- 
lenge of  Isaiah  of  old :  "  Assemble  yourselves  and 
come ;  draw  near  together,  ye  that  are  escaped  of 
the  nations  ;  tell  ye  and  bring  them  near  ;  yea,  let 
them  take  counsel  together ;    who  hath  declared 
this  from  ancient  time  ?     "Who  hath   told  it  from 
that  time  ?     Have  not  I  the  Lord  ?  and  there  is  no 
God  else  beside  me."     Ah  !  this  is  the  glory  of  the 
Gospel,  that  it  reveals  the  religion  of  a  sinner.     It 
not  only  tells   of   a   great    propitiatory   sacrifice, 
smoking  ever  upon  the  altar  in  the  outer  court, 
and  proclaiming  "  without  the  shedding  of  blood, 
there  is  no   remission  of  sin  ;"  it  not  only  tells  of  a 
great  High  Priest  within  the  veil,  interceding  be- 
fore the  mercy-seat,  with  hands  which  never,  like 
those  of  Moses,  hans^  down  :     But  it  tells  of  this 
almighty  Spirit,  who  comes  with  a  silent,  yet  re- 
sistless power,  into  the  sanctuary  of  the  human  soul; 
who  quickens  the  siyner  dead  in  tresspasses  and 
sins,  breathing  into  him  a  new  life  of  holiness  and 
love  ;  who  pours  into  his  undei'standing  the  beams 
of  light  from  his  own  glorious  person ;  who  turns 
the  affections  back  in  their  flowing  current,  till  they 
empty  into  the  bosom  of  God ;  who  sways  the  will 
not  by  an  external  necessity,  but  magnetizing,  it 
through  the  operation  of  grace,  "  makes  it  willing 


34 

iu  tlie  day  of  his  power,"  so  that  in  its  own  polarity 
it  points  freely  to  the  law  of  God,  and  "  every 
thought  is  brought  into  capti\qty  and  obedience  of 
Christ."  It  tells  of  the  same  Spirit,  who  dwells  for- 
ever within  the  renewed  soul,  and  brings  the  new- 
born natui'e  to  maturity  of  growth ;  and  finally  sa- 
tisfies its  craving  for  an  immortality  of  virtue,  by 
translating  it  to  the  presence  of  God,  where  in  the 
immediate  vision  of  the  Good  it  is  confirmed,  like 
the  angels,  indefectibly  m  holiness.  Produce  now 
form  the  records  of  deism  or  of  priestcraft,  one 
form  of  religion,  which  professes  to  beget  the  sinner 
anew  in  the  holy  image  of  God,  and  I  will  be  stag- 
gared  by  a  rising  doubt ;  but  until  you  shall  do 
this, 

"  I'll  bind  the  Gospel  to  my  heart, 
And  call  them,  vanity  and  lies." 

6. — Christianity  will  set  up  but  one  more  plea  in 
her  defence,  that  of  leing  the  only  system  of  religion^ 
to  ahsohite  certainty  of  whose  timth  it  is  'possible  to 
he  lyrought.  By  the  inward  work  of  God's  Spirit 
upon  the  soul,  in  regeneration  and  sanctification,  all 
the  doctrines  of  revelation  are  brought  within  the 
range  of  experience,  so  as  to  be  confirmed  by  the 
testimony  of  consciousness.  Truth  is  collected  in 
the  Scripture,  as  light  is  gathered  into  the  sun. — 
Yet  the  sinner's  mind,  like  the  eye  of  the  blind,  is 
closed  against  its  rays.     If  now  the  Holy  Ghost  re- 


35 

moves  tlie  v^eil  which  has  shrouded  it  in  darkness, 
quickens  it  enfeebled  by  sin,  renders  it  coDgeuial 
with  the  truth  it  is  to  receive,  and  then  without  the 
aid  of  artificial  symbols,  so  to  speak,  impresses  that 
truth  nakedly  upon  the  mind,  there  must  be  a  cor- 
respondence between  the  objective  revelation  on  the 
one  hand,  and  the  subjective  illumination  on  the 
other.  Not  more  certainly  does  the  seal  leave  its 
impression  upon  the  softened  wax,  than  do  the  doc- 
trines of  gi'ace  upon  the  believer's  heart.  There  is 
not  one  so  abstract  and  unpractical,  but  it  is  the  type 
or  mould  of  christian  feeling  :  nor  an  emotion  of 
the  renewed  heart,  but  is  awakened  by  its  kindred 
truth.  Is  it  not  obvious  that  such  a  system  admits 
a  certainty  of  conviction  which  is  attainable  in  no 
other  ?  It  is  seen  not  only  in  the  direct  light  which 
beams  from  itself,  but  in  the  reflected  light  of  hu- 
man consciousness.  The  truths  are  known,  because 
felt  as  well  as  seen.  And  there  was  a  deep  though 
unsuspected  philosophy  in  the  reply  of  the  unletter- 
ed peasant  to  the  subtle  sceptic :  "  Sir,  I  cannot  an- 
swer your  arguments,"  but,  laying  her  hand  on  her 
breast,  "  I  feel  here  that  the  Bible  is  true."  We 
hnow  the  doctrine  of  regeneration  to  be  true  be- 
cause we  are  quickened,  who  before  were  dead  in 
sins.  We  hnow  the  doctrine  of  spiritual  illumina- 
tion to  be  true ;  for  "  whereas  we  were  blind,  now  we 
see."     We  Icnoio  union  with  Christ  to  be  true,  be- 


36 

cause  conscious  tliat  we  walk  by  faith  in  Him.  We 
hioiv  adoption  to  be  true ;  for  the  spirit  of  sons  is 
spread  abroad  in  our  hearts,  crying  Abba,  Father, 
We  hnoiu  justification  by  faith  to  be  true ;  bacau^e 
we  who  believe  have  peace  with  God,  which  pas- 
seth  all  understanding.  Thus  we  may  pass  around 
the  entire  circle  of  christian  doctrine,  and  like  the 
notes  marked  upon  the  k^ys  of  a  well  tuned  instru- 
ment, the  sanct^ied  heart  will  give  to  each  its  own 
responsive  sound.  He,  who  by  the  teaching  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  has  felt  the  j)o^Yer  of  all  truth  in  his 
own  soul,  comes  through  experience  to  "  the  riches 
of  the  full  assurance  of  understanding,  to  the  ac- 
knowledgement of  the  mystery  of  God,  and  of  the 
Father,  and  of  Christ,  in  whom  are  hid  all  the  trea- 
sures of  wisdom  and  knowledge."  While,  too,  the 
written  word  reproduces  itself  in  the  heart  of  the 
Christian,  it  is  the  perfect  standard  by  which  all  the 
secret  exercises  of  that  heart  are  to  be  judgeid  ; 
precisely  as  in  the  Photographic  art,  the  light  beam- 
ing from  an  objecit  draws  the  image  on  the  plate, 
while  the  original  remains  to  test  the  accuracy  of 
the  resemblance.  In  this  way  an  important  check 
is  imposed  upon  the  way^Vard  and  licentious  tend- 
encies of  the  imagination.  The  mystic  cannot  easi- 
ly mistake  his  dreams  and  reveries  for  the  inspira* 
tions  of  the  Spirit ;  for,  as  He  works  outwardly 
from  the  scripture  upon  the  mind,  we  have  a  law 


37 

and  a  testimony  to  which  these  inspirations  can  be 
referred;  and  if  "they  be  not  according  to  this 
word,  it  is  because  there  is  no  light  in  them." 

It  is  time,  yonng  gentlemen,  to  pause  and  see  whi- 
ther the  swelling'  tide  of  this  discussion  has  drifted 
US.  I  have  not  spoken  in  vain  if  you  are  brought  to  a 
practical  conviction,  that  you  cannot  dispense  with 
all  religion.  You  may  select  any  one  of  the  sys- 
tems which  you  shall  find  ticketed  and  labelled  in 
the  vast  museum  of  history.  You  may  dream 
among  the  mystics  of  India,  or  divine  among  the 
star-gazers  of  Chaldea.  You  may  sacrifice  to  the 
sun  upon  the  hill-tops  of  ancient  Persia,  or  veil 
yourselves  before  the  consecrated  fire  of  the  Magi. 
You  may  wreathe  garlands  around  the  sacred  Bull 
of  Egypt,  or  dance  with  amulets  and  fetishes  among 
the  de^dliworshippers  of  Caflraria ;  or  turning  with 
contempt  from  these  gross  and  obsolete  idolatries  ; 
you  may  echo  the  profane  wit  of  the  French  Ency- 
clopedists, or  boast  in  the  starched  proprieties  of  in- 
tellectual Deism.  You  may  look  forth  upon  this 
beautiful  world  and  exclaim,  in  the  Pantheistic  lan- 
guage of  Pope, 

"  All  are  but  part  of  one  stupendous  whole, 
Whose  bcfdy  nature  is,  and  God  the  soul:" 

or,  you  may  write  your  own  inscriptions  upon  the 
altar  reared  by  natural  religion  to  "  the  unknown 
God."     You  may  cast  ^side  all  the  forms  of  worship 


38 

and  walk  the  steep  path,  of  earthly  ambition,  to 
wear  the  thorns  with  which  heroes  are  crowned ;  or 
you  may  go  tripping  through  the  world,  a  devotee 
of  pleasure,  to  the  sound  of  timbrel  and  harp  ;  or, 
standing  under  Heaven's  high  arch,  with  your  eye 
upon  the  stars,  you  may  proclaim  in  this  vast,  yet 
vacant  temple  of  Jehovah,  "  there  is  no  God  !"■ — 
yet  still  you  shall  not  esca^^e  from  the  imperishable 
instincts  of  your  religious  nature.  Crush  out  as  you 
may,  this  element  which  most  allies  you  to  angels 
and  to  God,  in  secret  hours  yon  must  hear  awful 
whispers  from  an  oracle  within,  warning  you  that 
you  can  only  become  an  apostate  from  God,  by  being 
first  an  apostate  from  yourself. 

I  have  come  from  afar  to  ask  you  solemnly,  which 
of  these  religions  do  you  accept  as  yours  ?  If  you 
reply  with  Peter  in  the  text,  to  whom  slall  we  go 
but  to  Chiist,  who  has  these  words  of  Eternal  life, 
I  thank  you  for  the  answer ;  but  have  you  consi- 
dered what  is  involved  in  the  acceptance  of  Christi- 
anity ?  Besting  as  an  historical  religion,  upon  the 
testimony  of  God  himself,  given  in  an  authentic  re- 
velation, it  is  not  to  be  received  by  an  easy  traditi- 
onal faith,  as  an  ancestral  heir-loom.  To  appropri- 
ate an  argument  of  Dr.  Chalmers  upon  the  being  of 
God,  if  Christianity  only  presents  you  with  a  pre- 
sumption of  its  truth,  this  binds  you  to  a  close  and 
earnest  investigation  of  its  evidences,  that  you  may 


39 

come  to  an  absolute  conviction  of  that  trntli.  Je- 
iliovali  is  a  jealous  God,  who  will  not  give  his  glory 
to  another :  and  He  claims  this  homage  of  our  in- 
tellect, that  the  system  of  faith  of  which  His  vera- 
city is  the  pledge,  should  be  received  only  upon 
that  personal  conviction  which  flows  from  a  know- 
ledsre  of  its  contents,  and  an  examination  of  its 
claims ;  such  a  conviction  as  shall  forever  exclude 
even  the  possible  rivalry  of  other  systems.  Especi- 
ally is  this  demand  just  upon  you,  who  have  here 
been  taught  those  secrets  of  nature,  which  science 
breathes  but  to  few,  and  which  are  the  foot-prints  of 
the  christian  argument  for  the  being  of  a  God. — 
You  who  have  conversed  with  Plato  m  the  Acade- 
my, and  with  Zeno  in  the  Porch — you  who,  with 
your  hands  upon  the  records  of  learning  and  philo- 
sophy treasured  in  these  archives,  are  so  competent 
to  institute  the  comparison  which  I  have  drawn  to- 
night between  the  religion  of  God  and  of  men : — 
upon  you,  it  is  specially  incumbent  to  give  in  your 
adhesion  to  Christianity,  not  upon  a  traditional  and 
hereditary  trust,  but  upon  the  faith  of  the  intensest 
personal  conviction. 

Remember,  too,  that  Christianity  is  not  to  be  ac- 
cepted simply  as  a  philosophy,  explaining  the  other- 
wise insoluble  problems  of  human  life.  If  it  were 
nothing  more  than  this,  the  Bible  would  still  de- 
serve to  be  studied  above  all  the  tomes  of  human 


40 

wisdom,  under  whicli  our  bookshelves  gi'oan  ;  for  it 
contains  the  utterances  of  Divine  wisdom.  But  the 
G-ospel  reveals  not  a  philosophy  which  explains 
riian's  wants,  but  a  religion  which  meets  them.  It 
proposes  reconciliation  with  God  through  an  atone- 
ment which  satisfies  all  the  requisitions  of  law ;  and 
it  renews  and  sanctifies  the  soul,  fitting  it  for  an 
eternal  and  blissful  communion  with  its  Maker,  in 
this  world  and  in  that  which  is  lo  come.  If  in  this 
aspect  you  accept  it,  you  can  only  do  so  by  an  in- 
ward experience  of  its  power.  Let  me  impress  up- 
on you  this  distinction.  The  Scriptures  may  be  to 
you  only  the  grove  of  Academus,  and  Jesus  Christ 
but  a  diviner  Socrates. 

Initiated  in  all  the  mysteries  of  its  philosophy, 
you  may  wither  and  die  whilst  standing  at  the  very 
fountain  of  life.  Kemember,  I  pray  you,  that  if 
Christ  be  a  teacher,  his  are  "  the  words  of  Eternal 
life."  You  must  touch  the  hem  of  his  garment 
and  be  healed.  You  must  be  sprinkled  with  His 
blood,  so  as  "  to  have  no  more  conscience  of  sins," 
You  must  have  fellowship  with  him  in  his  death 
and  resurrection.  You  must  experience  the  renew- 
ing and  sanctifying . influences  of  the-  Holy  Ghost: 
or,  nominally  Christian  as  you  may  be,  you  will 
sink  from  the  very  shadow  of  the  Saviour's  cross 
into  eternal  perdition.  Young  gentlemen,  I  speak 
these  words  in  deep  solemnity  of  soul.     Through 


41 

your  pai tial  kiiKliiess  1  am  liei'e  to-night :  but  1  am 
li<'i'e  as  a  minister  of  (rod,  to  si)eak  His  words  u})on 
which  tlie  destiny  of  souls  is  suspended.  This 
night  has  the  kinu'dom  '>f  (xod  come  nigh  unto  you  : 
and  if  you  receive  it  not,  1  say  unto  you,  it  shall  l»e 
more  toleral)le  in  that  da}'  for  Sodom  than  for 
you.  "If  ye  wei'e  blind,  ye  should  have  no  sin: 
but  now  ye  sa}',  we  see,  tlierefore  youi-  sin  remain- 
eth."  •'  But  I  hope  better  things  of  you,  and  things 
that  accompany  salvation,  tliough  I  thus  speak." 
''To  God  and  to  the  Spirit  of  his  grace  I  commend 
you.*"  May  his  guardian  providence  shield  you  in 
this  life,  froBii  sorrow  and  from  sin  !  and  may  it  1  )e 
yours  and  mine  to  hear  together  the  benediction  of 
the  last  day,  "  come  ye  blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit 
the  Kingdom  prepared  for  you  from  the  foundation 
of  the  world !" 


I 


